Apparatus for dispensing flowable contents of a collapsible tube

ABSTRACT

A hand held tube squeezer facilitates emptying a tube of its contents. The squeezer has a gripping action on the tube to which it is applied, thus preventing rearward slipping of the squeezer. Top and bottom plates of the squeezer are connected by a loop which has a slot through which a tube extends when it is being emptied. Portions of the loop at opposite ends of the slot function as a line hinge between the top and bottom plates. The squeezer and a roller are packaged in a clear plastic wrap film.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A great many materials such as toothpaste, caulk, and the like are packaged in squeeze tubes, which are squeezed from the bottom up. It is difficult, if not impossible, to empty the contents of some tubes by hand squeezing the tube. Numerous devices have been proposed for assisting a person in dispensing the flowable contents from a collapsible tube; however, they have not proven entirely satisfactory as to ease of handling, operation, durability, maintenance and/or cost. There exits a need for an inexpensive durable maintenance free hand held device for compressing flowable material from a tube which is easily applied to and removed from the tube.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A handheld device in the form of a squeezer for emptying contents for a tube is made of a stiff, but resilient, segment of material, preferably plastic, having a uniform thickness. The squeezer has a lateral width slightly greater than the collapsed width of the tube for which it is designed and a length greater than its width. The segment is bent upwardly at about its midpoint about 165 degrees to form a loop and then is bent upwardly to form a rounded laterally extending tube gripping ridge or dimple. This results in a flat bottom plate connected by the loop to a slightly concave top plate disposed at about a 17 degree angle to the bottom plate. A laterally extending slot is formed in the loop just above the level of the bottom plate. The slot has a lateral dimension slightly greater than the width of tube in a flattened state and a vertical dimension slightly greater than the collapsed thickness of the tube. The lateral dimension of the slot is less than the lateral dimension of the loop thereby leaving narrow portions of the loop at opposite lateral ends of the slot which serve as a live hinge.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the tube squeezer of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tube squeezer engaged in a tube squeezing operation;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the tube squeezer in a tube squeezing position;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fluted cylindrical roller extracting contents of a tube; and

FIG. 5 illustrates a shrink wrap package of the tube squeezer and the ridged roller.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1 through 3 show the hand held device or tube squeezer 11 for emptying the contents of a collapsible tube 12 which may contain any one of a wide variety of industrial products such as caulking, grouting, sealants or household products such as toothpaste. The tube squeezer is made of an elongated segment of thin flat resilient material of uniform thickness, preferably thermo plastic, which is bent over on itself about 165 degrees at near the midpoint of its length to form a loop 16. The segment is next bent upwardly from the loop to form a downwardly extending dimple 17 and then is bent upwardly a slight amount to present a slightly rounded or concave top plate 18 extending above a flat bottom plate 19 at an acute angle 21 between 10 and 25 degrees preferably about 17 degrees. The downward extending dimple 17 provides a rounded laterally extending tube gripping ridge which grips the tube when the top plate is pivoted downwardly about a live hinge. The width of the tube squeezer 11 at the loop 16 is greater than the width of a typical tube of caulking or other product for which it may be specifically designed. A laterally extending slot 26 is formed in the loop 16. The lower edge 27 of the slot is at the same elevation or level as the top surface 28 of the bottom plate 19. The height of the slot 16 is greater than the collapsed thickness of the tube 12 and its lateral width is slightly greater than the collapsed width of the tube 12 and less than the lateral width of the loop 16 leaving narrow portions 31, 32 serving as a live hinge between the top plate 18 and the bottom plate 19. The top and bottom plates 18, 19 may be rectangular in planar shape or may taper to a slightly reduced width at their distal non-hinged ends 33, 34. The lengths of the top and bottom plates 18, 19 are less than the length of the tube for which the squeezer is designed with their distal ends being approximately coterminous.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the tube squeezer 11 applied to the tube 12, which has been partially emptied. When a downward force, indicated by arrow 41, is applied to the top plate 18, as by a hand, the top plate pivots downwardly, as shown in FIG. 3, causing the gripping ridge or dimple 17 to grip the flattened portion of the tube 12. The gripping action prevents the tube 12 from slipping out of the tube squeezer, as would otherwise occur when attempting to discharge highly viscous contents from a tube. The slightly concave curvature of the top plate 18, in the front to rear direction, helps to apply a better squeezing force to the area of the tube 12 just ahead of the holding dimple 17 thus aiding in complete discharge of the tube contents.

FIG. 4 illustrates use of a cylindrical shaped roller 51 which is particularly useful in discharging caulking or similar products which may be difficult to discharge because of the age of the contents or a cool temperature. The diameter of the roller is between 12 and 24 mm and is preferably about 18 mm. The length of the roller should be about the width of a human hand or between 70 mm and 100 mm with 85 mm being a preferred length. The illustrated roller 51 has parallel axially extending ridges 52 formed on its cylindrical periphery or circumference and its ends 53, 54 are beveled. As shown in FIG. 4 the roller 51 is pressed against a tube 56 by the palm of a hand starting at the flat end of the tube 56 and then rolled toward the opened nozzle 57 of the tube 56 as indicated by the arrow 58. The ridges 52 ensures that the roller 51 rotates rather than slides. The beveled ends 53, 54 reduce the discomfort of the user when the palm of the hand extends over one of the ends during use of the roller 51.

As shown in FIG. 5, the roller 51 and the tube squeezer 11 are enclosed in a package by shrink wrapping a clear plastic film around them. Thus two advantageous products and maintained together in shipment, storage, retail display and user purchase. 

1. A hand held device for discharging contents of a collapsible tube comprising: a tube squeezer formed from an elongated thin flat resilient material segment wider than said tube, said segment being folded over near the mid point of its length forming a loop joining a flat bottom plate and a top plate inclining upwardly from said bottom plate, said loop including a laterally extending slot having laterally length slightly greater than the collapsed width of said tube, and a height slightly greater than the collapsed thickness of said tube, the portions of said loop at the laterally opposite ends of said slot constituting a live hinge between said top plate and said bottom plate.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein a downwardly extending dimple is formed across the lateral width of said squeezer at the junction of said loop with said top plate.
 3. The device of claim 2 wherein said top plate is slightly concave in its direction of elongation.
 4. The device of claim 2 wherein said device is made of a thermo plastic.
 5. The device of claim 2 wherein said tube is gripped between said dimple and said bottom plate when said tube is placed in said squeezer and said top plate is pivoted downward.
 6. The device of claim 2 wherein said top plate is disposed at an angle between 10 and 25 degrees relative to said bottom plate.
 7. A package of tube squeezing products comprising a tube squeezer of thin flat resilient material having a flat bottom joined to a slightly concave top by a loop with a laterally extending slot through which a flattened tube may be extended, the portions of said loop at laterally opposite ends of said slot serving as a live hinge between said top and bottom, a cylindrically shaped roller having a parallel axially extending ridges on its circumference, said roller being between 12 mm and 24 mm in diameter and between 70 mm and 100 mm in axial length and a clear plastic film shrink wrapped around said squeezer and roller.
 8. The package of claim 7 wherein said roller is beveled at its axially opposite ends.
 9. The package of claim 8 wherein said tube squeezer and said roller are made of plastic. 